What Does YOUR Painted Picture Look Like?

I have never known of a company who wouldn’t like to double the size of their revenue and profit. With Cameron Herold’s book “Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years of Less” you will have a clear outline on how to do just that. While I will be targeting my BetterBookClub.com book review towards those C-Level people, even if you are not an entrepreneur or CEO of a company there is still a lot of information that you can gather from this book to be able to support those people in those positions. It is for that reason why I constantly recommend this book to companies for their BetterBookClub.com program.

Herold’s book is divided into easy to digest chapters that any busy CEO/entrepreneur could pick up and read. The key to this book is to be focused, which you will read about throughout the book. The first chapter directs the reader to find their Vision, what Herold refers to as their “Painted Picture.” By design, this chapter is first for a reason. If you don’t know what you want your company to look like in the future (think culture, staff, values, etc.) then there is nothing that neither this book nor any other can do to help you. After reading chapter one put the book down and really think about what you want and need within the framework of your company. Once you have that picture in your head you can get the information out to others on your team. When they see your vision then it is that much easier for them to help you get there. Teams need to be on the same page and when tough decisions come up everyone can reflect back to the painted picture to help in decision making. As Herold said, “Everything must be on target and geared toward that specific growth goal.”

To get your Painted Picture out of your head and onto actual paper, think of all of those crazy ideas that you have for your business. I am sure that some of the ideas might even get laughed at if you brought them up at a board meeting. However, it is important to write these down using the technique called “mind-mapping.” This process is simply jotting down all of your random thoughts, dreams, and aspirations instead of writing out formal sentences. The other important part of creating a Painted Picture is to not focus on “how” you will get things accomplished. Instead, focus on “where” you want to be. A person does not have to be creative in order to be able to create a Painted Picture. No one needs to be Picasso, just follow the questions that Harold lists out and you will quickly have your three pages of details that will help guide you during growth.

According to Herold, after you have your Painted Picture, the next step is to be focused on growing quickly. The key areas of growth that a company needs to focus on are: hiring, communication, meetings, marketing, public relations, productivity, and technology. Herold also guides companies through what to do when growth is slow. (I’ll give you a hint, it’s not going to be easy to read if you are making excuses for the lack of growth. My other hint is that the chapter is worth reading even if your company is having steady growth.)

Having a Painted Picture and being focused on fast growth isn’t enough. Herold says that a company also needs to focus on leadership. He talks the reader through what is known as the Transition Curve and what to do and not do at each of the four stages. This curve will either help a person and their company through a crisis or the company will crash and burn. (Harsh, I know, but also very truthful.)He also goes on to through steps on how to be more productive like time management and staying focus.

To me, Double Double is a great business book because it provides the reader with tools that they can start using today. Instead of Herold being vague about topics he provides actual examples and lists names of businesses and products that have worked well for him. Are you looking for an organization that will help you with your entrepreneurial growth? Check out EO. Are you looking for tips on work-life balance? Here are some proven ones from Herold himself. Need tips on staying focus? Herold has those as well. Do you need a better chair? Buy Herman Miller Aeron chairs. Do you need a wireless headset? Check out Headsets.com and the ones that are manufactured by Plantronics. Herold cuts out the guess work in so many areas by providing these real-life examples that can save you time.

As I mentioned before, this book is good for people in various positions within their company. A great takeaway tool that Herold provides is interview questions. These questions have been gathered by him through various resources over the past several years. Each group of questions is based on different character traits that you would like to learn about from a prospective employee such as: problem solving, career goals, communication, decision making, etc.

With focused planning, focused building, and focused leadership you will see your business grow. And if you need help staying focused, Herold also provides you with “Focus Points” at the end of the book. However, don’t just skip to that part because you will miss a lot of very valuable information.

Happy Reading!

Amazon.com review found HERE.